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 Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 7:37 am
A few paces down the hall, Énna waited for Riker to finish up at his locker before marching forward to slam the metal door shut with a bang. The sound was louder than he expected and made him jump, but Énna could be stubborn when he wanted to be and he felt like he should be now, so the determined look on his face remained.
He stared up at Riker, who seemed to get taller every few months. Énna didn’t think he’d had to tilt his head quite so much back in November, but he’d also been too angry and upset to pay much attention to any difference until now.
Énna told himself he wasn’t nervous. He told himself what happened between them didn’t matter. He told himself Riker was just a stupid boy making stupid decisions, and it wasn’t worth it to stress about anymore.
But Riker was Reims and Reims had been his friend, and Énna was tired of the constant tension.
Maybe coming so close to planetary destruction put things into perspective. Maybe the scant few glimpses he’d gotten of the past did, too.
“You still want to make it up to me?” Énna asked, frowning like he dared Riker to say otherwise.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 8:01 am
Riker had been deep in thought when his locker door was unceremoniously slammed shut. He jumped and flinched away, ready to defend himself from a fist being thrown at him but--
Oh, it was Énna.
His ears immediately burned red as he stared at him, and then awkwardly lifted his backpack to hug against him. Maybe he would be lucky and Elliot would be heading down the hall about now. Or Julian. Énna wouldn’t pick a fight with Julian.
Even with the whole end of the world no longer being a thing (for now), Riker was still feeling rather stressed about what it meant for the future.
The question from Énna was so out of the blue that it took him a moment to understand the context. And when he did realize what he was asking, in combination with the look he was getting, his face felt like it was turning red, too.
“Of course I do,” he said, but a little wary about whatever Énna was suddenly thinking. Slamming his locker and startling him definitely didn’t feel super confident.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 9:04 am
Énna wedged himself between Riker and Riker’s locker—a vulnerable place to be against an a*****e who used to make fun of him, but Riker hadn’t ever harmed him physically before and Énna didn’t think he would now. Maybe Énna had something to prove. Maybe it was a challenge. Maybe he wanted to show he wasn’t afraid.
He stared Riker in the eye, then watched Riker’s face flush. All their friends had forgiven Riker to some degree. Maybe completely. None of them seemed to hold anything against Riker, but they hadn’t held Énna’s reluctance against him either. They coexisted without quite merging. Sometimes Riker was with them. Sometimes Énna was. Sometimes they were in the same place at the same time for the same reason and Énna would make an excuse to leave.
After a while, it got tedious.
After a while, it seemed pointless.
Énna extended a hand but turned it palm up before Riker could see more than a flash of the little white flowers painted onto the pale blue base of a few of his nails.
“Give me your phone,” he demanded. Then, when he thought that seemed a little sketchy, Énna mumbled, “I’m adding my contact information.”
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 9:10 am
When Énna moved between him and his locker, Riker took a decisive step back. He glanced around to make sure no one was assuming that he was trying to cause trouble, and when it didn’t seem as though there were others who were paying attention, he looked back at Énna with helpless wariness.
He was asking for his phone? To put in his contact? Well… demanding his phone.
Riker frowned, but did as he was told. He reached into his pocket and unlocked the phone to pass over. The background was a picture he’d convinced Julian to take with him. And Julian even looked like he’d put some effort into giving a good smile for it.
He wanted to ask Énna what he wanted him to do. What he was planning. There was a part of him that wondered if it would be easier to just accept that Énna was going to hate him forever, if only to avoid being embarrassed one way or another.
But he wanted to make things right. So if there was something he could do, then he would.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 1:04 pm
Énna frowned at Riker’s phone background. Not because there was anything wrong with it. Julian looked cute, and Riker… Well, he was fine. Reims had been cute, and Riker was the same person, but Énna didn’t think he should let himself find Riker cute when he was still mad at him, so… fine worked. They looked cute together, though. Julian and Riker. Friendly. Like they spent enough time together to be comfortable in a picture, or as comfortable as either of them had ever looked with anyone in Énna’s presence.
Teal eyes glanced back up at Riker, a little more narrow than before. He studied Riker’s face like he was trying to find something but wasn’t even sure what that was. Énna thought about all the people he knew who’d been picked on by Riker. Julian. Atticus. Himself.
He looked back down at Riker’s phone. He put in his own contact information and opened a message to text himself “Riker,” then handed Riker’s phone back.
“Text me your combination,” he said. “For your locker. If you want to make it up to me, you can start by letting me decorate it. Since you had such a problem with mine. You don’t get to decide what I do with it, but I won’t do anything crazy. It’ll be functional. Take out everything you need for tomorrow. I’ll start in the morning and finish by the end of the day. What’s your favorite color?”
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 1:30 pm
Riker wasn’t sure what that look was for. He didn’t doubt that Énna was judging him, but for what? Did he think Julian deserved better friends than someone like him? He would be right. Julian did deserve better friends. But Riker wanted to keep him safe and make sure he wasn’t lonely so when he did find better people, he wouldn’t have to get to that point alone.
He took the phone when it was handed back to him, opening it so he could pull up the text Énna sent to himself. He was wary about giving him his locker combination. What if Énna was setting him up for something bad? Would he put rotting food in there? Maybe prank him by changing the locks entirely and make him have to get it cut open.
After only another moment of hesitation, Riker sighed and plugged in the combination and sent the text.
“Red, I guess,” he mumbled, feeling a bit sheepish about it. It probably sounded a bit egotistical, since his eyes were red. He was already wondering if he should have said a different color, since red was the color of… well, a lot of things.
“Decorating my locker will make things up to you?” he frowned, still unsure. “Look… I’m sorry about what I said. I know I was stupid. I didn’t even mean it. I was struggling to come up with things to say about it to insult you,” he sighed, but knew he’d messed up and Énna deserved to give some payback.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2025 1:54 pm
“I said that’s how you can start,” Énna said.
He should’ve expected red. Not because of Riker’s eyes, which he hadn’t chosen and couldn’t change without investing in colored contacts, but because of the red in his hair. That had been deliberate. Riker didn’t strike him as the type who’d pick the color just because it would match his eyes or his outfit when he powered up.
Red. Énna could work with that. In fact, his own eyes brightened a bit, like he’d been struck by inspiration. He didn’t smile, but his mouth twitched like he might’ve been about to and had to force the expression away. Riker didn’t deserve a smile yet, even the small, close-lipped kind that didn’t show Énna’s braces. (Maybe soon, if Riker handled things right. Maybe once the braces came off and Énna had more of a reason to show off.)
(Not that he wanted to show off to Riker, but once upon a time he had wanted to show off to Reims, and it was getting kind of exhausting constantly making the distinction to himself.)
“I know you’re sorry,” Énna told him. “You’ve said. I knew it the first time, but I was mad and upset. I’m still mad and upset, but I meant it when I said I’m trying,” he continued, reminding Riker of their most recent conversation on Ganymede. “This is me trying.”
Énna paused. He blinked, then appeared lost in thought for a moment. His mouth twitched again, but he hastily stifled it.
“I already have an idea, so meet me back here tomorrow. Maybe I’ll let you learn something else about me none of the others know.”
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2025 4:45 pm
Something else that none of the others knew? Once again, Riker gave him a skeptical look. He didn’t know how to take comments like that. Promises like that. He didn’t know what those little twitches at the corner of Enna’s mouth meant, or why he was suddenly feeling very nervous about whatever Énna was planning.
“Okay,” he mumbled, clearly uncertain about all of this. Énna knew he was sorry, and Énna said this was him trying, so… he would have to trust that. What else could he do?
“Thanks. I mean. For trying. I’m glad you’re okay,” he added before he could stop himself. He had been worried about him after he quickly left when they returned to Earth, but he didn’t seem injured at least.
“Tomorrow then,” he nodded and cautiously reached around Énna so he could work on getting his locker opened again to collect whatever he might need. He should probably just clear the whole thing out… just in case Énna needed the room.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2025 4:47 pm
Énna shifted to the side, allowing Riker access to his locker again.
He stood there for a few moments, watching Riker collect his things. Énna wasn’t interested in what Riker kept in there—probably books and sports things; he’d find out regardless if Riker didn’t remove all of it—but he also didn’t know what else to say and would feel weird stalking off. Should the conversation have gone longer? He’d half expected Riker to balk, or at least ask what he planned to do so he could prepare himself for what he must assume would be a major embarrassment.
Maybe it would be. Maybe it wouldn’t. Énna didn’t think what he wanted to do would be embarrassing, but he wasn’t Riker and Riker wasn’t him and they both obviously liked different things. (Not that he knew what Riker liked besides sports. And pretty girls. And… boys like Julian…)
Alright, maybe he should stalk off.
“Okay, bye,” Énna said, and did just that, turning on his heel to flounce down the hall, showing far more confidence than he felt.
Maybe this was a mistake.
Maybe he was on to something.
Fin!
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